2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLANresources are no longer in the conservation potential, resulting in a substantial reduction in our residential conservation potential. n Regional wholesale

2020 – 2021CONSERVATION PLAN

Serving our customers

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Introduction from Steve Bicker

What’s new for 2020 – 2021

ENERGY CONSERVATION AND PROGRAMS AT TACOMA POWERConservation Resources 2020 – 2021 table

ENERGY CONSERVATION FOR BUSINESS CUSTOMERS Bright Rebates

Custom Retrofit

New Construction

Equipment Rebates

Strategic Energy Management

ENERGY CONSERVATION FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERSWeatherization and HVAC

Consumer Products

New Construction and Custom Projects

Quick Energy Savers

ENERGY CONSERVATION FOR LOW-INCOME AND HARD-to-REACH CUSTOMERSLow-Income Program

Rental Housing and Apartment Buildings

Agency Partnerships

EXTERNAL ENERGY CONSERVATIONNorthwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Transmission and Distribution Voltage Optimization

GREEN ENERGY PROGRAMS, ENERGY SERVICES, AND ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATIONSolar Net Metering

Community Solar

Evergreen Options

Shade Tree

Clean Buildings

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Tacoma Power 2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLAN 3

Thank you for your interest in Tacoma Power’s new biennium plan for Customer Energy Programs. In the past, we called this document a “Conservation Plan,” reflecting our nearly exclusive focus on conserving energy. While energy conservation programs will continue to dominate our work, we are preparing to take on new challenges. In the 2020-2021 biennium, we will begin to expand toward broader integrated demand-side management services (IDSM) in response to a power market we expect to be more capacity constrained. We will explore ways of using the internet to offer our customers’ incentives that will help them shift their power use in ways that will make the best use of the power grid.

We also plan to accommodate customers who want to use our power in new ways, such as charging their electric vehicles. Recently, the Washington State Legislature passed HB1512, which gave power utilities the authority to promote electric transportation. We do not yet know the exact nature of the programs we will offer, but we intend to gather stakeholder input and conduct research that will help us respond to community interest in electric transportation. Our objectives are to find ways of helping people charge their electric vehicles faster, at the best time, and with simplicity.

We have been helping our customers take advantage of state solar incentives for many years. While those state incentives are no longer available, we will continue to help them install rooftop solar. In the past biennium, we improved Evergreen Options, our voluntary green power program, by enabling its participants to select local renewable energy projects. This biennium, we want to give people who participate in Evergreen Options more ways to invest their funds.

Finally, we are planning to be more proactive and collaborative in the way we meet the needs of people who struggle to pay for efficiency improvements. We are exploring new program options to encourage participation and collaborating with organizations to deliver more efficiency to low-income and hard to reach customers.

Ultimately, we want to provide programs that help everyone in our community achieve their energy objectives, whether home comfort and convenience, managing their company’s bottom line or caring for their employees, all while saving energy and money, and reducing our collective environmental footprint on the earth.

If you have questions or comments about this plan, I welcome a conversation. I hope you enjoy reading the Customer Energy Programs Action Plan.

Steve Bicker

Sr. Manager, Customer Energy Programs and Assistant Power [email protected]

4

The Integrated Demand Side Management Portfolio The 2020-2021 Customer Energy Programs Action Plan maps our strategy for converting Tacoma Power’s energy conservation plan into a comprehensive Integrated Demand Side Management (IDSM) portfolio. The IDSM portfolio acknowledges the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency and adds demand response and distributed generation programs to our portfolio.

Integrated Demand Side Management

Energy Efficiency

Acquires energy resources by helping customers replace inefficient equipment and use energy in smarter ways.

Demand Response

Acquires energy resources by helping

customers change their usage patterns.

Distributed Generation

Acquires energy resources through

customer owned generation.


The services we provide to people in our community are changing. In 2018, we

officially renamed Conservation Resources Management, Customer Energy Programs

(CEP). The new name recognizes the critical role of delivering people expanded programs

and services as their needs and our needs change. While energy conservation

remains the central focus of our portfolio, we expect to add demand response programs,

energy management services, and electric transportation programs in the future. Our

new programs will use existing education and outreach efforts, implementation infrastruc-

ture, and program delivery experience to serve an ever-expanding range of valuable

products and services.

What’s new for 2020 – 2021

Energy Efficiency

Electric Transportation

Energy Capacity and

StorageGreen Energy

Energy Education and

Services

Customer Energy Programs

6

Lower Energy Efficiency TargetUtility investments and national initiatives have made meaningful impacts on how people

use energy, reducing overall energy use per person. The 2020-2029 Conservation

Potential Assessment (CPA) aligns with this trend, finding 16% less potential savings

than the previous CPA (Figure 1). Three factors explain our lower target:

n Ten years of ambitious energy efficiency programs have met needs identified

by previous CPAs. Once we complete an energy conservation project, it is no

longer in our conservation potential. Our successful street lighting project with

the City of Tacoma has almost completely removed this category of savings

from our conservation potential.

n Full implementation of national lighting efficiency standards means these

resources are no longer in the conservation potential, resulting in a substantial

reduction in our residential conservation potential.

n Regional wholesale power prices continue to remain low as the availability of

natural gas and renewable energy in the region increase. The abundance of

these resources reduces our opportunity for cost-effective energy conservation

savings. Borderline cost-effective measures from the prior CPA are no longer

cost-effective.

10 YEARS OF SUCCESS

LOWER POWER PRICES

CODES AND STANDARDS

Smaller Conservation Target


Figure 1

Restructure of residential programs to meet new opportunityRetail lighting has been a cornerstone of our residential efficiency efforts for over 10

years, providing a low-cost resource available to all residential customers. With state

and federal lighting standards taking effect in 2020 for key residential lighting products,

we can shift our focus away from retail lighting to other opportunities. This shift

allows us to dedicate additional resources to focus on low-income and hard-to-reach

residential customers, launch a new consumer products program, and investigate

new program opportunities.

To improve customer experience, we revised our window and insulation incentive

structure. Our new flat incentive pays a fixed incentive for qualifying projects instead

of using a per square foot calculation to determine incentive. This change will make

it easier for people to understand our programs and simplify our marketing materials.

We are optimistic the new structure will encourage new participation.

We increased our building science and modeling capabilities to help people with

complex projects. These capabilities allow us to assist people with major energy issues

in their homes that are beyond our basic program and offer incentives for efficient new

construction projects.

MW

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2020 – 2029 Conservation Potential is 16% less than the 2018-2027 Conservation Potential

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

2018 – 2027 CONSERVATION POTENTIAL

2020 – 2029 CONSERVATION POTENTIAL

Commercial Distribution Industrial Residential Joint Base Lewis-McChord Street Lighting

300,000

8

New opportunities for small business customersWe plan to improve service to small businesses by dedicating additional time and

resources to create targeted offers, increase incentives, and simplify program

participation. The effort will leverage existing programs, as well as new offers,

to increase the participation of small businesses.

Changes for commercial and industrial lightingOur commercial and industrial lighting retrofit program consistently performs above

expectations and provides an opportunity for all businesses to participate. Meanwhile,

the cost of commercial lighting projects fell as new technology entered the marketplace

and lowered project costs. We plan to adjust our lighting incentives in response to

these market changes.

Capacity and Demand ResponseMarket fundamentals point toward the region becoming capacity-constrained as a

growing number of intermittent renewable resources replace existing fossil fuel power

resources. To meet this energy resource need, the 2020-2021 Customer Energy

Programs Action Plan recognizes the capacity value of conserving energy. We increased

our incentives for commercial and industrial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

measures as these resources best align with projected power needs.


In 2018, we completed an in-depth study to explore demand response programs.

While this study did not recommend an immediate mass-market program, it did find

value in industrial programs and recommended conducting pilots to gain experience

in implementing mass-market demand response programs. We intend to explore

these options based on results from our next Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Adoption of new technologyWe have invested in technology to improve customer experience and reduce

implementation costs. Our successes include:

n Implementing a new workflow system, which reduces the application to payment

time from up to six weeks down to up two weeks.

n Pioneering the use of video chat services for inspections, allowing staff to

do more inspections during non-business hours, and reducing wait time for

inspections.

n Eliminating the need to secure and manage hard copy signatures using

electronic signatures.

n Reducing the time it takes to file real estate liens and releases to one-hour or

less as opposed to two to three weeks.

Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) is currently implementing advanced meters (AM). We

expect to complete this project in 2022. CEP will investigate ways we can use AM to

acquire valuable energy use data and provide exciting new products and services for

our customers to simplify their lives and help manage their energy use and expense.

Electric TransportationIn 2019, Washington State authorized publicly owned utilities to promote electric

transportation through education and incentive programs. Participation in the

marketplace depends on the approval of an Electric Transportation Strategic Plan.

Our new Energy Research and Development (ER&D) group, which focuses on

researching and developing new uses for our electricity, is currently working on the

strategic plan and expected to complete their work in the first half of 2020. Once the

Public Utility Board approves the strategic plan, we plan to research and pilot

programs that will eventually result in placing programs for electric transportation

into our portfolio of programs.

1010


ENERGY CONSERVATION and PROGRAMS

at TACOMA POWER

Our programs provide information, education, rebates, grants, and zero-interest loans to help people manage energy and save money with better products and practices.

12

Business Case for Energy ConservationThe business case for energy programs is compelling. For the long term, energy programs

help us meet future energy needs without acquiring additional power supply, offer people

real financial savings, and help us meet regulatory requirements. Short term, energy

programs benefit participants by reducing their electric bill, increasing their comfort, and

improving productivity.

Load Resource Balance

The 2017 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) sets the foundation for the business case

underlying our 2020-2021 Customer Energy Programs Action Plan. The IRP establishes

a resource strategy to ensure we can meet people’s demand for electricity at a low cost

with low risk. Through the IRP process, we identified energy conservation as the only

energy resource we need to acquire for the next 20 (Figure 2). Energy conservation is

available today and costs less than other resources (Figure 3).

We expect these findings will remain in the next IRP, scheduled for completion at

the end of 2020. Additionally, we expect the 2020 IRP will identify a need for future

capacity due to a volatile and uncertain power market. The 2020 IRP will set the

foundation for our next Customer Energy Programs Action Plan, but we anticipate mid

plan adjustments to meet needs identified by the 2020 IRP.

Figure 3

$ / MWh

Energy Conservation $28

Combined Cycle Gas $42

Wind $57

Utility Scale Solar $79

Gas Combustion Turbine $155

Energy conservation is our lowest cost resource

Figure 2

a MW

Conservation is the only resource we need for the foreseeable future

400

300

200

100

2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 20360

BPA Resources TPU Resources Other Resources Load w/ Conservation

500

600

700


Benefits

While energy programs reduce rate pressure in the long run, participants receive

immediate financial savings and non-energy benefits, such as comfort, housing market

value, safety, and improved worker productivity when engaging in our programs. The

2020-21 Customer Energy Programs Action Plan has a program for everyone in our

service area. Residential customers can reduce their electricity costs as much as 30%

by participating.

These benefits translate into a positive relationship with people and improving their

satisfaction with us. Our internal customer surveys indicate people are aware of our

energy programs are more satisfied with Tacoma Public Utilities than people who are

unaware of our offers.

Environmental Stewardship

In addition to load resource balance and customer

satisfaction, Tacoma Power feels a strong obligation

to make the best use of our hydroelectric resources.

Energy conserved through our conservation programs

allows our hydroelectric resources to serve more

customers. This continues our tradition of offering

customers electricity that is almost entirely from clean,

renewable hydroelectric resources.

14

Legislative Mandate

In 2006, Washington state voters voiced their desire for utilities to provide more

energy conservation by passing Initiative 937, also known as the Washington Energy

Independence Act (EIA). The rules codified under RCW 19.285, and WAC 194-37

govern the implementation of the EIA.

While primarily a renewable portfolio standard, the EIA requires utilities with 25,000

customers or more to “pursue all available conservation that is cost-effective, reliable,

and feasible.” To meet this standard, we must acquire a pro-rata share for two years of

our 10-year energy conservation potential.

Policy for Energy Conservation Target and Budget Setting Identifying the Energy Conservation Potential

Before setting a target or determining our budget, we must calculate how much energy

conservation opportunity exists in our service territory. The Conservation Potential

Assessment (CPA) calculates our potential by comparing savings from individual,

efficient products to Tacoma Power’s avoided cost of alternative power resources.

The cost-effective potential takes into account the following variables:

Avoided Cost Variables

n Avoided BPA power purchases.

n Save line loss by transmitting less power over the grid.

n Sell the estimated value of generation capacity reserves to other utilities.

n Defer estimated value of transmission upgrades.

n Avoid Renewable Energy Credit (REC) purchases from lower loads.

Product Variables

n Initial product cost and lifetime maintenance costs.

n Product life expectancy.

n Patterns based on the time energy savings occur during the year.

n Quantifiable and monetizable benefits that result from installing the product.

Regulatory Variables

n 1980 Power Act gives energy conservation a 10% advantage when compared

to generation resources.

n The estimated carbon content of our resource portfolio applied to carbon

cost assumptions.


Target Setting

The EIA sets forth three requirements governing how Tacoma Power sets its

energy conservation target.

1. Total Resource Cost methodology must be used to set the target.

2. The target applies to the compliance biennium – not to individual years.

3. The target is a single savings amount – not a combination of the individual

product, program, or sector targets.

We hired Applied Energy Group (AEG) to conduct our 2019 CPA. The AEG examined more

than 7,000 unique energy conservation products using methodology consistent with the

Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) as required by RCW 19.285. The

CPA identified 688,000 MWh of technically achievable energy conservation we could

acquire in our service area between the years 2020-2029 without regard to costs.

The IRP defines our avoidance of cost for new marginal

resources. The sum of all products from our energy

conservation potential that cost less than marginal

resources becomes the savings target for the biennium.

The CPA identified 233,660 MWh of achievable

economic energy conservation in our service territory

during 2020-2029.

Our two-year energy conservation target is 46,732

MWh. The target is a pro-rata share of the 2020-2029

achievable economic potential and presented and

adopted by the Public Utility Board on October 9

(Resolution U-11107).

Reporting Accomplishments

As required by the Washington state statute, we report energy conservation

accomplishments to the Washington State Department of Commerce. We document

and report the acquired energy conservation savings using BPA’s IS 2.0 reporting

system. The BPA uses “Unit Energy Savings” values and protocols based on information

from the Regional Technical Forum (RTF). The RTF is a technical advisory committee

to the Northwest Power, and Conservation Council established in 1999 to develop

standards for verifying and evaluating energy savings.

Breakout of 2020-2029 economic achievable energy conservation potential by sector

Commercial

Distribution

Industrial

Residential

Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Street Lighting

55,800

12,600

10,500

2,700

62,700

89,300

16

Mitigating Portfolio RiskNot meeting our EIA target is not an option. To ensure we meet the EIA target, we set

program goals and budgets to achieve more than our regulatory target. Exceeding

our program goals benefits customers by acquiring low-cost resources. Additionally,

excess savings above our target may be used to meet future targets. Planned energy

savings beyond our target is a risk management strategy, not a commitment to do

more energy conservation.

The 2020-2021 Customer Energy Programs Action Plan aligns with the state’s EIA

reporting biennium. However, our 2019-2020 budget follows the City of Tacoma’s

biennial budget cycles. The plan supports an accurate planning process and provides

robust risk mitigation, but somewhat constrains 2020 activity to our approved

2019-2020 budget. References to 2021 expenditures and budget allocations are

estimates. The actual budget will require Public Utility Board approval.

Our most serious budget risk is overspending our incentive budget.

n Large commercial and industrial projects can receive incentives over $1 million

and have lead times up to several years with uncertain completion schedules;

when these projects shift into a different budget biennium, it can cause significant

budget pressure.

n Despite our market knowledge and the use of good research, it is difficult to

predict which efficient products will be popular and when new technologies

will be available in the market. Some are very popular, while others do not

attract much customer attention.

n Regional and local economic drivers beyond our control may drive participation

above (or below) planned levels. Economic trends are a critical driver in how

much companies are willing to invest in energy efficiency and how much new

construction they build.

To manage these risks, we maintain a monthly budget reservation system. The

system ensures we do not promise funds to more than one business by tracking

multiple large commercial projects, as well as forecasts for small projects, to ensure

we are not overcommitting funds. If the budget reservation system indicates we

could overspend, we respond by ramping programs down, reducing incentives,

or asking for additional funds before depleting our budget.


Sensitivity Analysis

We use a Monte Carlo approach in budget planning. It models multiple program

outcomes across the portfolio to ensure planned acquisitions and budgets are

adequate to meet regulatory and load/resource needs. This model uses assumption

ranges based on program history and staff knowledge to inform 10,000 model

runs that predict market outcomes. Figure 4 illustrates the probability of outcomes

given program variability for 10,000 combinations of program performance factors.

Figure 4 — Probability of Outcomes Given Program Variability

Figure 4 shows our portfolio met or exceeded the target in over 96% of all model

runs. Based on this analysis, absent a radical policy or market changes, CEP is

confident its portfolio will meet Tacoma Power’s acquisition needs. Figure 5 shows

programs in our portfolio that have the most significant variability. Our portfolio’s

greatest sensitivity is general economic factors, followed by Bright Rebates program

performance. Variability from other programs is modeled to have less than a 1%

impact on meeting the savings target.

Figure 5 — Programs with Highest Variability Sensitivity: Total Savings

Contribution to Variance View

Economy Factor

Bright Rebates

C/I Custom Retrofit

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Stategic Energy Management

Other

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%0%

18

Building the Energy Programs PortfolioCEP considers three key principles in designing the energy programs portfolio:

Developing a robust portfolio requires balancing costs, fairness, and customer needs.

To address this need, we balance three key principles when designing the energy

programs portfolio:

1. Programs must be cost effective.n Acquire cost-effective resources.

n Plan to exceed the EIA target.

n Use correct program and product assumptions.

2. Programs must benefit customers.

n People value our products and services.

n Incentives are appropriate to drive participation.

3. Programs must equitably distribute spending

among rate classes

n All ratepayers should have an opportunity to

participate in energy programs.

n Additional effort must be made to engage

low-income and hard-to-reach customers.

At times, some of these considerations conflict. We strive to create a portfolio that

addresses all of these design principles in a reasonable balance to serve people at

the lowest cost.

Program must be cost effectiveAcquire cost-effective resources

We evaluate cost-effectiveness using the same time-differentiated cost curves used

by the CPA. While the Total Resource Cost Test (TRC) alone sets the EIA target, we

use the TRC, Utility Cost Test (UCT), and Participant Test (PT) to admit programs into

the portfolio. “Cost-effective” programs must have a TRC or UCT benefit-to-cost ratio

greater than 1.0.

n Total Resource Cost (TRC): Assesses if a product is good service territory

investment, comparing the value of lifetime benefits to the product cost.

The TRC test is indifferent to who pays or benefits and utilizes lifetime energy

and capacity benefits, full product cost, and program implementation costs.

Cost Effective

Customer Benefit

Equity

Customer Energy

Programs Action

Plan


Additionally, TRC considers monetizable non-energy

benefits (NEBs), giving them equal weight as the

value of energy benefits. We express the TRC as

a benefit-to-cost ratio, known as the TRC B/C ratio.

n Utility Cost Test (UTC): Assesses if a product is

good utility investment, comparing the value of

lifetime benefits utility to program cost. The UCT

focuses exclusively on Tacoma Power energy and

capacity benefits and Tacoma Power program

implementation costs. The UCT does not consider

customer non-energy benefits. We express the

UCT as a benefit-to-cost ratio, known as the UCT

B/C Ratio and in terms of $/MWh cost for

comparison to supply-side resources. It’s important

to note that for a public utility, benefits to the

utility contribute to lower rates.

n Participant Test (PT): Assesses if a product is

a good customer investment, comparing the

customer’s lifetime bill savings to the out of

pocket cost to purchase and install the product

and quantifiable non-energy benefits. We express

the PT in terms of simple payback – how long

after installation, it takes the customer to recover

their investment. Some programs offer

compelling non-energy benefits such as comfort

and productivity benefits; instead of attempting

to monetize these benefits for our customers,

we feel customer willingness to participate is

the best gauge of this value. Because we allow

customers to determine this value for themselves,

we do not use the participant test as an economics

screen, but as an important perspective to gauge if

we should offer a program to them.

n Ignores non-monitized non-energy benefits that are often critical to market acceptance

n Does not accurately compare utility costs with supply side alternatives

n Recognizes utilities need to serve the public at large

n Limits impact of free riders

TOTAL RESOURCE COST

a d va n ta g e s d i s a d va n ta g e s

n Does not consider utility or public cost

n Does a poor job of valuing non-energy benefits, which are often major drivers behind purchasing new equipment

n Accurately tests economic value to customer

PARTICIPANT TEST


n Admits products and programs to the portfolio that may be only affordable by affluent customers

n May encourage customers to purchase equipment that is not in their financial interest

n Accurately compares utility costs with supply side alternatives

n Allows the utility to promote products desired by customers

n Focuses the utility on keeping costs low

UTILITY COST TEST


20

Plan to exceed the EIA target

The law does not prescribe a specific portfolio mix or sector balance. Our Customer

Energy Programs Action Plan is a risk management tool — individual programs may

under or over-perform due to the unpredictable nature of the market and people’s

interest. Additionally, some products in this plan are may never launch, while some not

included might launch and become very successful over the two-year planning period.

Ensure program and product assumptions are correct

The Customer Energy Programs Action Plan uses hundreds of program and product-

specific assumptions, including unit energy savings estimates and numbers of units

delivered per year, to develop the portfolio. Planning provides us an opportunity to

ensure these assumptions are up to date and correct.

We use professional judgment and staff consensus to choose the most reliable

assumptions for our service area. For custom measures, where we use onsite

characteristics to calculate energy savings, we plan using measure and program

attributes from the most recent CPA. For “deemed measures,” where we assume

a single savings value based on general population characteristics, we use values

from the Regional Technical Forum, the BPA, internal analysis, or external sources.

Additionally, we incorporate how we expect people to react to future promotions and

planned program changes. Finally, we check these assumptions against historical

program performance.

Energy Programs Must Satisfy CustomersSimple financial incentives alone do not change the market by themselves. We

compete for consumer dollars with other home improvement investments, such

as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. To be competitive, we must

market programs to capture people’s attention and motivate them to take action. We

do this by implementing programs using the 4 Ps of marketing:

n Price —Reduce the cost of products by using a combination

of rebates, grants, instant markdowns, and loans. Care

is taken to avoid negatively influencing rates by keeping

incentives at the right size and no larger than necessary

to move the market.

n Product — Include products in our portfolio that delight

customers. People don’t forget products that fail to meet

their expectations or are difficult or annoying to use.

Promoting products that improve people’s lives and make

them feel good about their purchases will increase the

success of future programs.

4 “P”s of Marketing

Price

Promotion Place

Product


n Promotion — Talk with customers on their level to educate them on why they

should participate. Residential marketing efforts promote home comfort, as well as

lower energy costs. Commercial-Industrial programs promise and deliver reduced

overhead costs, making companies more profitable and competitive.

n Place — Engage customers where they interact with the market by leveraging

existing businesses that already serve them. We call them trade allies —

third-party companies and contractors who design, sell, and install high-efficiency

equipment and offer solutions that qualify for our programs. Working with

qualified trade allies allows us to reach more people than we could do alone.

They include businesses such as big-box retail, HVAC or weatherization

contractors, engineering firms, lighting contractors, builders, and various types

of consultants. With management oversight, the staff decides which trade ally

channel(s) will be most effective.

Distribution of Energy Program Spending Must be Equitable We fund our energy conservation and other programs through power rates. Since

all customers contribute, they should have access to our programs. While large

commercial and industrial programs are the lowest cost, residential and small business

customers have an equity stake in our programs. Many low-income customers pay

a significant share of their household budget to heat older, poorly insulated homes.

Providing energy programs helps customers lower their utility bills, which in turn

supports their ability to pay their bills in the future.

In this Customer Energy Programs Action Plan, we apply an additional lens to focus

on people from historically marginalized communities who may have difficulty

accessing our programs. To better serve them, we are printing program materials in

multiple languages, collaborating with community leaders to spread the word about

our programs, meeting people in their neighborhoods at community events, and use

tools to target diverse backgrounds.

Our plan focuses on three underserved groups for 2020-2021.

n Low-income homeowners who lack resources to make energy efficiency

improvements to their homes: We help them by offering a zero interest-

deferred loan in addition to our standard rebates. Deferred loans allow

qualifying homeowners to install energy-efficient products today and defer

loan payments until they sell, refinance, or occupancy of the home changes.

We are also collaborating with local low-income agencies and programs to

improve the energy efficiency of their clients’ homes.

22

n People living in rental housing (from single-family

homes to large apartment complexes) are unlikely

to make energy efficiency improvements to homes

they do not own, while landlords are unlikely to make

investments that do not directly benefit them. We are

tackling this issue from two directions by providing

incentives to property owners to make efficiency

improvements and working with the City of Tacoma to

align with its Affordable Housing Action Strategy and

require basic efficiency standards in rental properties.

We plan to support this effort with additional marketing.

n People who do not live in single-family homes,

specifically manufactured homes and apartment

buildings, have limited energy efficiency options.

These projects can be very expensive and yield little

energy savings. We are collaborating with others to

serve them better.

In addition to designing programs to reach people who face structural barriers to

participation, we are working to ensure that historically marginalized communities,

including people with limited English, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income

communities, and others, have equitable access to our program information. We are

planning additional marketing and outreach to people in areas with obstacles connected

to upward mobility by using the City of Tacoma’s Equity Index to guide tactical

marketing and program decisions. The Equity Map (Figure 6) identifies areas of low

opportunity in lighter colors1.

Our goal is to acquire a proportional amount of energy savings from low and very

low opportunity areas. To be proportional to the number of customers, about 40%

of residential savings within the City of Tacoma should come from these areas.

Historically our low-income and hard-to-reach programs have done a good job

distributing conservation funds in areas equitably, with 43% of 2017-2018 residential

energy savings coming from areas of low and very low opportunity. The integration

of the tool allows us to improve coordination with the City of Tacoma and monitor

outcomes as we adopt new program designs.

1 The Equity Index only covers customers in the City of Tacoma and does not address customers or equity issues outside the City of Tacoma.

Underserved Customers

Low- Income

RentersManufactured

Homes and Apartment Buildings


Figure 6 — Equity Map

Customer Engagement Plan:Engaging with our customers provides us an opportunity to hear directly from them

about the challenges they face, the services they need, and the information they desire.

Customer engagement allows us to tailor our messages to meet their needs. Depending

on the customer’s interests and needs, we can share the information they value.

We do not act alone in our engagement efforts but regularly collaborate with the TPU

Public Affairs and Communications department for the latest research, outreach, and

legislative support, help with messaging strategies, developing promotional materials,

and placing media. We also coordinate with the TPU Customer Energy Solutions

office to engage low-income customers and offer comprehensive programs.

24

Reach

Engage

EnrollRetain Nurture

Our portfolio of programs helps people make their homes more efficient and comfortable.

Tacoma Power has some of the lowest rates in the country, and our power supply

features a very low carbon footprint. Customer perception, however, does not always

reflect what we know about our operations. Our strategy for reaching and engaging

with customers is a vital component of how we build relationships and earn public

trust as an organization. This strategy represents an overarching method to promote

the entire portfolio of programs and general messages.

Our core mission is to build ongoing, positive relationships with people in our service

area. We achieve this cycle using the following principles:

n Reach people where they are, which includes

community events, group presentations, and

marketing efforts.

n Engage with people by sharing information

and building awareness through advertising,

and creating accessible information

through our webpage — guide people to

our programs.

n Enroll people in our programs to interact with them and gain feedback that

will allow us to evaluate and improve.

n Retain relationships as a trusted energy advisor. Build relationships as we

help people save energy, support renewable energy, and benefit from program

participation.

n Nurture relationships through ongoing support and follow-up.

Ultimately, our customers can become advocates for Tacoma Power and our programs

from the positive experiences and support they receive. They look to us to be a trusted

advisor for all their energy decisions and become part of the Reach phase as they

share their experiences with family, friends, and neighbors. If successful, the cycle continues.

Future engagement plans

We will explore new and different ways to engage with people as they go about their

daily activities and find new opportunities and venues to connect with those who are

harder to reach in outlying areas of our service area territory, and low-income

neighborhoods. We will engage with organizations that serve our customers, which

results in benefits for their businesses, such as real estate agents and organizations

geared toward making homeownership a reality for first-time homebuyers, and property

management companies.


Table 1, following page

Low-Income and Hard to Reach Efficiency

Low-Income and Hard to Reach Efficiency

Business Efficiency Business Efficiency Home Efficiency Home Efficiency

External Efficiency Programs External Efficiency Programs Green Energy Programs

$10,032,900

$4,542,100

$1,023,400

$620,800

$2,736,600

40,180

3,0108,180 5,030

Planned Program Savings ( MWh ) Planned Program Expenses

In addition to tailoring our conversations and filling knowledge gaps, people evaluate

our services through an “emotional lens” and hold our employees in high regard.

Direct customer engagement, face to face, and on the phone allow our utility to make

a personal connection with customers through our employees and in turn, build an

emotional connection that can result in customer loyalty and brand confidence and

trust. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and we will need to engage with various

methods of customer-facing interactions to support and promote the programs and

services we offer in the future. The efforts not only benefit our portfolio directly but

the organization as a whole.

Energy Program BudgetsCurrently, CEP has an approved 2019-2020 budget of $27,580,000. We expect a

reduced budget in the 2021-2022 biennium due to lower targets. In addition to our

budget, we use an estimated $1,405,000 of support for energy efficiency programs

from workgroups outside of CEP, including TPU Communications and Energy Resource

Planning and Evaluation. CEP also supports the work of Energy Research and

Development pilots, safety at TPU, and ad-hoc projects.

Program incentives paid to our customers are the largest expense category, accounting

for approximately 55% of planned expenses. Labor to deliver energy conservation

programs accounts for 22% of planned expenses, with general overhead accounting

for the remaining 23% of planned energy conservation expenses.

Energy Conservation and Programs PortfolioThe Customer Energy Programs Action Plan will acquire 56,382 MWh of energy

efficiency resources at the cost of $22,164,560 for the 2020-2021 biennium.

Table 1 provides a detailed economic analysis of proposed programs.

26

PLANNED SAVINGS TRC UCT PROGRAM / SECTOR MWh B/C RATIO B/C RATIO

All Energy Efficiency Programs 56,400 1.06 1.41

General Overhead

Support from External Groups

Business Efficiency 40,180 1.62 1.71

Bright Rebates 15,610 1.84 2.62

Custom Retrofit 8,710 1.22 1.36

New Construction 7,100 2.71 2.09

Strategic Energy Management 6,910 1.38 1.22

Equipment Rebates 1,850 1.21 1.40

C/I Non-Program Overhead

Home Efficiency 5,030 0.48 1.11

Heating and Weatherization 3,110 0.42 1.48

Consumer Products 1,150 0.82 1.11

New Construction & Custom Projects 500 1.19 1.05

Quick Energy Savers 270 1.14 1.01

Res Non-Program Overhead

Low-Income and Hard to Reach Efficiency 3,010 0.48 1.11

Oner Occupied Low-Income 1,450 0.45 1.00

Rental Housing and Apartment Buildings 900 0.57 1.28

Agency Partnerships 660 0.39 1.11

HTR Non-Program Overhead

External Efficiency Programs 8,180 1.46 2.92

NEAA 7,800 1.40 2.90

Voltage Optimization 380 6.60 5.80

PLANNED PLANNED PROGRAM / SECTOR PARTIC IPANTS EXPENSES

Solar Net Metering 650 $55,000

Community Solar 990 $15,800

Evergreen Options 1,100 $394,000

Shade Trees 1,000 $85,000

Clean Building Standards 200 $71,000

26

Energy Efficiency Portfolio

Green Energy Programs

* All numbers visually rounded


RESOURCE COST PARTIC IPANT PLANNED PLANNED$ / MWh PAYBACK INCENTIVES OVERHEAD

($27.68) $12,080,600 $10,085,140

$2,425,740

$1,405,000

($22.90) $6,501,800 $3,531,100

($14.89) 5 Years $2,372,800 $835,800

($28.91) 3 Years $2,161,400 $613,400

($18.84) 1 Year $1,420,000 $361,200

($32.08) 1 Year $178,300 $416,100

($27.93) 1 Year $369,300 $115,500

$1,189,100

($35.04) $1,276,100 $1,460,500

($26.37) 18 Years $703,100 $730,100

($34.34) 3 Years $221,000 $181,900

($36.69) 1 Year $270,000 $73,100

($37.33) $82,000 $17,200

$458,200

($35.39) $3,654,100 $888,000

($39.00) $2,889,100 $249,400

($30.97) $425,400 $257,600

($34.48) $339,600 $48,700

$332,300

($13.11) $648,600 $374,800

($13.29) $633,600 $357,300

($6.58) $15,000 $17,500

ADDIT IONAL PROGRAM INFO

Pass through an estimated $2,600,000 of state incentives

Pass through an estimated $850,000 of state incentives

Plan to make funds available for two to four local renewable projects

Incentivize 4,600 trees

Build infanstructure to help customers comply with the Clean Building Act

27

2828


We serve a diverse group of over 18,000 businesses. Businesses range from large facilities like industrial plants, health care campuses, schools, and big-box retail, to small businesses such as restaurants, clothing stores, and nail salons. To meet the needs of businesses, we offer business owners a diverse set of programs to help them reduce costs by saving energy.

Our business programs focus on maximizing value by leveraging improved efficiency, customer benefits, and CEP’s low-cost program delivery. The result is a win-win where business owners save money and enjoy better-performing facilities, and the utility fills future resource needs at a low cost.

New for the 2020-2021 program cycle is an emphasis on small and medium businesses. Several programs, including the Bright Rebates lighting program, will feature special offers targeting this group. These offers include increased incentives and streamlined participation opportunities.

ENERGY CONSERVATION for BUSINESS CUSTOMERS

Planned Business Efficiency Savings (MWh)

New Construction

Bright Rebates

Custom Retrofit

Startegic Energy Management

Equipment Rebates

15,610

7,100

6,910

1,850

8,710

30

Bright RebatesE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R B U S I N E S S C U S T O M E R S

$3,208,600Planned Capital and O&M expenditures

$14.89 / MWhPlanned lifetime cost

15,610 MWhPlanned savings

2.62Utility Benefit-Cost Ratio

Program Overview:

Efficient lighting is one of the best investments business

owners can make to improve their bottom line. The

newest LED technology is efficient, provides superior

light, and requires less maintenance than fluorescent

and metal halide technology. The combination of low

cost, high-quality lighting solutions, and the ubiquity of

lighting in all types of businesses, make Bright Rebates

one of our most robust energy efficiency programs.

Measures include:

n Interior and exterior lighting

n Parking lot and street lighting

n Lighting controls

How Businesses Participate:

Businesses work directly with our lighting trade allies:

electrical contractors, distributors, energy service

companies (ESCOs), and manufacturers’ representatives.

Trade allies know what equipment will work best for

their needs and assist them with program documentation.

Alternatively, businesses may contact CEP or TPU

account executives directly.

2020-2021 Planned Changes:

Market adoption of LED lighting products has increased

significantly due to better technology and lower cost.

In response, we will reduce incentives for commercial

lighting in 2020, with an exception for small businesses,

where penetration of lighting technology has lagged

behind large commercial and industrial businesses.


Risks:

The Customer Energy Programs Action Plan assumes

program participation will wane in the future because of

lower incentives and successful market transformation.

In 2017, the RTF modified its savings calculations to

incorporate a duel baseline methodology for lighting

retrofit projects. Its methodology reduces measure life

based upon how old the existing equipment is. We do

not feel this approach aligns with conditions observed in

the field, with a frequent observation of lighting systems

operating well past assumed measure lives. However, if

BPA adopts this change, it could potentially strand low

cost, cost-effective conservation resources.

Promotion Strategy:

We plan to leverage the recently passed Clean Buildings

legislation to promote the Bright Rebates Program.

To accomplish this, we will educate businesses on

how commercial lighting will improve their buildings’

performance and inform them how our incentives can

reduce their compliance costs. Finally, our Strategic

Energy Management (SEM) program feeds new projects

from participants to the Bright Rebates program.

Other marketing tactics to consider, include increased

digital advertising, such as programmatic advertising

and Facebook ads, which allow us to reach our target

demographics and track results.

Incentives:

We pay up to $0.14 per kWh for Bright Rebates

energy savings at large commercial and industrial

businesses (rate Schedules G, HVG, and CP) and cap

payment at 60% of project costs. To address the cost

barriers faced by small businesses (Rate Schedule B),

we will pay $0.20 per kWh with no payment cap. We

removed the payment cap to encourage contractors to

bid low and bring additional value to small businesses.

The incentive for T-LEDs, regardless of business size,

will be $2 per bulb.

Basis of Analysis:

Bright Rebates was analyzed using “average kWh.” Three

measures representing typical installations were used

to analyze program cost-effectiveness. Measures were

further divided into two groups to simulate rate class.

Assumptions came from Tacoma Power’s 2019 CPA, and

the CEP C/I lighting staff reviewed them.

32

Custom RetrofitE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R B U S I N E S S C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Building systems and processes are as complex and

unique as our customer’s businesses. The Custom

Retrofit program provides a flexible platform to assess

opportunities and identify options. The program works

for a variety of projects, ranging from complex industrial

retrofits to relatively simple HVAC projects.

Measures include:

n Compressed air systems

n Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)

n Motors, pumps, fans, and their associated controls

n Industrial process

n Measures not covered by other programs


Businesses work through trade allies and our conservation

engineers. The CEP engineers’ estimate energy savings,

ensure projects meet the utility’s cost-effective standards

and conduct measurement and verification (M&V) to

ensure we realize energy savings. We leverage BPA’s

EnergySmart Industrial Program to provide additional

technical support and M&V assistance on large or complex

industrial projects, providing additional value

to our customers.



To better align our program outcomes with utility peak

demand needs, we are increasing HVAC incentives to

$0.30 per kWh. We will promote the incentive increase

through new marketing materials that highlight HVAC

measures.

Risks:

CEP has completed many large projects, reducing the

potential pool of remaining projects. As the pool of

remaining large projects become smaller, we will need to

meet savings targets by increasing the number of small

projects. Additionally, Custom Retrofit projects are at a

greater risk of having savings reduced by an external BPA

or state audit than other projects. As with all analyses of

this nature, analysis is subject to some interpretation. This

risk is greater for Custom Retrofit because of the inherent

complexity of the systems involved and the unique nature

of each project.

Promotion Strategy:

Our Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program feeds

new projects from participants to the Custom Retrofit

program. Additionally, we plan to leverage the recently

passed Clean Buildings legislation to promote the Custom

Retrofit Program. To accomplish this, we will educate

businesses about how equipment upgrades can improve

their building’s performance and inform them how our

incentives can reduce their compliance costs. Other

marketing tactics to consider, include developing a

marketing brochure and talking points for the TPU account

executives to use when interacting with businesses.

Incentives:

The Custom Retrofit program pays $0.30 per kWh for

commercial space heating and cooling measures and

$0.23 per kWh for non-HVAC measures, up to 70% of

the project cost. Additionally, we fund energy studies for

complex projects. Study incentives are typically limited

to 50% of study costs, and a qualified engineering firm

must perform them.

Basis of Analysis:

The Custom Retrofit program was analyzed on a per kWh

basis using five broad categories representing typical end

uses: HVAC, Motors, Processes, Refrigeration, and Water

Heating. Assumptions came from Tacoma Power’s 2019

CPA, and the CEP C/I engineering staff reviewed them.

34

New ConstructionE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R B U S I N E S S C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Construction in Tacoma is booming, especially in its

downtown core. A recent study by the Heartland Institute

estimates between 2,613,000 ft2 and 3,518,000 ft2 of

new construction in its Downtown, Hilltop, and Stadium

neighborhoods will occur over the next 10 years. New

Construction projects include all new buildings, as well

as major retrofits, where building use changes substantially.

Measures include:

n Lighting (interior and exterior)

n Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

n Industrial systems


Customers work through their architecture and engineering

firms or direct relationships with our staff. Staff estimate

energy savings, ensure projects meet cost-effective

standards, and conduct Measurement and Verification

(M&V) to ensure we realize energy savings and customer

investments. New Construction program requirements

are straightforward and flexible, allowing businesses to

participate in all stages of design.


Washington state will implement a new energy code

in July 2020. Projects permitted after this time will fall

under the new code and may have lower incentives

and claimed savings than projects permitted before

July 2020. The latest code update has complicated the

baseline definition by allowing customers to choose


from multiple options for compliance. We work internally

to develop processes to standardize baseline definitions

and to accurately determine energy savings.

Ensuring code compliance is one of the least expensive

ways to meet future energy needs. CEP plans to partner

with the City of Tacoma to become more involved in

permitting and inspecting new buildings. Doing so will

allow CEP to engage with customers early in the project

and ensure projects meet the current energy code.

Acquiring these resources are not only necessary for

energy supply but avoid long term Transmission and

Distribution (T&D) investment in the growing downtown

core. Additionally, the New Construction team is

planning to develop incentive packages specific to

the growing multifamily and mixed-use segment.

Risks:

As codes become stricter, it is more difficult for our New

Construction program to save energy. This challenge is

especially true in multifamily and mixed-use buildings

where the nature of the occupancy limits energy-efficient

opportunities compared to other building types.

Promotion Strategy:

Community outreach will include working with the Master

Builders Association and other community partners to

promote the program. The TPU account executives and

our trade allies will help identify projects and connect

businesses to our energy experts. These efforts are critical

to engaging businesses early in the process, which yields

better results. Additionally, collaboration with the City of

Tacoma’s new green building specialist should help build

external processes that support our programs. Other

marketing tactics to consider, include the development of

talking points that outline the features and benefits of the

program for the Business Solutions department to use

when new customers call to set up service.

Incentives:

We pay an incentive of $0.20/kWh (up to 100% of the

incremental cost) for energy savings that exceed either

the Washington State Energy Code or industry-standard

practice for measures not regulated by code. The program

also provides design incentives to engage businesses early

in design.

Basis of Analysis:

The C/I New Construction program was analyzed on a

per kWh basis using three broad categories representing

typical end uses. Assumptions came from Tacoma

Power’s 2019 CPA, and the CEP C/I engineering staff

reviewed them.

36

Strategic Energy ManagementE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R B U S I N E S S C U S T O M E R S

$594,400Planned Capital and O&M expenditures




Program Overview:

Increasing efficiency by improving facility operation

represents a tremendous opportunity for businesses

to save money with fewer upfront costs. The Strategic

Energy Management (SEM) program effort combines

whole building metering, employee engagement, and

rigorous analysis to maximize energy savings through

improved operations and maintenance. Currently,

we offer industrial SEM through BPA’s Energy Smart

Industrial program and are in the middle of a four-year

Commercial SEM (C-SEM) pilot.


The TPU account executives work closely with CEP staff

to identify and recruit businesses into SEM programs.

Businesses must be a good fit, have internal organizational

support for SEM effort and predictable energy use

patterns that allow accurate baselining.


Risks:

SEM programs rely on ongoing business participation to

realize savings. Participants may fail to engage employees

in a manner that results in savings or drop out of SEM

altogether. The program is at a particular risk to the

disruption caused by staff turnover at participating

facilities. Loss of or failure to appoint a key individual

can counteract months of training. This risk is exasperated

during times of economic downturn when businesses

become more averse to trying new ideas and are looking

to reallocate staff.

Promotion Strategy:

The holistic SEM approach provides a foundational basis

for engaging with businesses on capital projects, feeding

projects to the Bright Rebates, Customer Retrofit, and

Equipment Rebates programs. Customer engagement

through SEM is critical to fill the pipeline

of large project.

Incentives:

SEM pays $0.03/kWh for operations and maintenance

savings beyond a baseline energy model developed for

each facility. The current program re-projects facility

baselines every two years, encouraging customers to find

deeper savings opportunities in subsequent years.

Basis of Analysis:

The program was analyzed on a per kWh basis using

savings estimates provided by Tacoma Power’s C/I

engineering staff. Since savings are behavior-based,

they are not tied to a specific end-use the same way

other programs are analyzed. Measure life is assumed to

be three years with depreciating savings after program

engagement ends. We allocated a portion of our program

cost relating to marketing and customer engagement to

our C/I portfolio. This allocation addresses the marketing

and promotion benefits of referring capital projects to

other programs within the portfolio.

38

Equipment RebatesE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R B U S I N E S S C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

One common thread among the small and medium

businesses is the challenge to make time to investigate and

improve energy efficiency. The equipment rebates program

meets this challenge by providing easy to understand

incentives that are accessed when businesses make buying

decisions.

Measures include:

n Engine block heaters

n Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)

equipment upgrades

n Thermostats

n Office equipment

n Food preparation equipment (steamers, ovens, etc.)

n Grocery equipment (display cases, refrigeration

upgrades, etc.)


Measures are packaged to align business needs with

delivery channels (e.g., cooking equipment retailers

promote cooking equipment; contractors promote

HVAC equipment). Trade allies within these delivery

channels provide education on efficient equipment and

promote our incentives. Businesses buying equipment

that meets or exceeds our specifications are eligible for

an incentive. Even though the program targets small

and medium businesses, all businesses may use our

Equipment Rebates program.


Small Business Focus:

Equipment Rebates will be one pillar of our small

business campaign that begins in 2020. We plan to

expand its program by adding measures for standard

projects. Adding measures will simplify program options

for customers and streamline internal processes by

requiring fewer calculations and intermediary steps.

Reducing barriers in this manner is critical to increasing

small business engagement.

Risks:

Simple rebates lack site-specific analysis of programs

that use custom calculations, which increases the

potential to over or underestimate savings for specific

customers and ignore non-energy benefits promoted

through custom analysis.

Promotion Strategy:

The Communications Office will pair this effort with our

“There’s a rebate for that” marketing campaign.

Community outreach includes working with business

organizations such as the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber

to host a lunch and learn seminar outlining our rebate

programs to prospective clients. Additionally, we may

consider digital ads in the Chamber’s website directory.

Leveraging this platform creates a consistent message

for small businesses that may also notice residential

marketing. Offering programs in the appropriate channel

encourages engagement with small and medium-size

businesses that lack resources to focus on energy

efficiency.

Incentives:

The Equipment Rebates program pays fixed incentives

without complex energy calculations. This strategy makes

the program easy to implement and accessible to small

and medium-sized businesses. Incentives range between

$0.03 per kWh and $0.30 per kWh, depending on product

category and appropriateness to enticing businesses to

participate without overpaying.

Basis of Analysis:

Equipment rebates were analyzed using “average kWh.”

Seven categories representing typical end uses were

analyzed. Measure performance assumptions came

from Tacoma Power’s 2019 CPA, and the CEP C/I staff

reviewed them.

4040


Our 157,000 residential customers have a variety of ways to participate in our energy efficiency programs, helping them to make their homes comfortable and save money on their electric bill. Also, our residential programs feature a special suite of offers that target hard to reach customers, including low-income, renters, and manufactured homeowners. These offers strive to increase participation among customer groups, traditionally underrepresented in energy efficiency programs.

To meet people’s needs, we’ve organized our residential program by market channel, connecting our programs to people at the most opportune time during their energy efficiency journey.

Our residential program is shifting away from lighting measures that historically made up the bulk of residential energy savings, and shifting towards deeper energy savings by focusing on more complicated projects, such as weatherization, thermostats, heat pump water heaters, clothes washers, and dryers.

ENERGY CONSERVATION for RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Planned Residential Efficiency Savings (MWh)

Consumer Products

Heating and Weatherization

New Construction & Custom Projects

Quick Energy Savers500

270

1,150

3,110

42

Weatherization and HVACE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R R E S I D E N T I A L C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Our program builds on a proud 40-year history of

helping people improve the comfort and efficiency

of their homes. The program covers a wide range of

measures for electrically heated homes, offering options

to improve insulation and windows, and increase the

efficiency of their heating system.

Measures include:

n Attic, floor, and wall insulation

n Air sealing and pipe insulation

n Windows

n Ductless and central heat pumps

n Duct sealing

How Customers Participate:

Customers work directly with our weatherization and

heating trade allies: windows and insulation contractors,

HVAC contractors, and duct sealing specialists, allied

with our program. Trade allies know our program

requirements and can advise what measures work best

for each person. People who use trade allies on our

participating contractor list have the option of assigning

their incentive directly to the trade ally and participating

in our loan program, reducing their upfront out of pocket

expenses.


1 Total loan amount limited to what we expect for an average project.


Marginally cost-effective measures and low power prices

required that we reduce our weatherization and HVAC

incentives. We took this opportunity to repackage our

offers into terms people more easily understand. Offers

formerly described in terms of “$0.85/ft2” are now

described as “$500 to insulate your attic” and “$100

per window”.

Risks:

Despite our efforts, many weatherization and heating

system measures are only marginally cost-effective.

These measures are highly susceptible to changes in

deemed savings, with adjustments of less than 10%,

causing several key measures to fail a TRC or UCT

economic screen. Although we participate in regional

discussions about deemed measure savings, the RTF

decides to change the savings.

Promotion Strategy:

We will develop and deploy a comprehensive marketing

and communications strategy that will include digital,

print, outdoor, and direct mail tactics. All material

created will feature refreshed branding and simplified

incentive language. General awareness advertising will

continue to be used, as well as an increase in targeted

marketing. With the increase in data analytics available to

us, we can target people who appear to have electric

heating systems and high energy use. Finally, we invested

a significant amount of time and effort to strengthen

trade ally relationships, giving us additional partners to

promote our programs.

Incentives:

Attic, wall, and floor insulation will be paid at $500

and covers an average of 30% to 40% of the project

cost. We will replace single-pane windows at $100

per window / $400 per sliding door, and double pane

windows at $50 per window / $200 per sliding door.

These incentives should cover 10 to 20% of the project

cost for most homes. Ductless heat pumps to be paid at

$500 per home and central heat pumps at $1,000 per

home, covering 10% to 15% of the typical project cost.

Alternately, people who work with a participating trade ally

are eligible for a seven-year, zero-interest loan to cover a

significant portion of (if not all), their project cost1.

Basis of Analysis:

We analyzed weatherization measures by creating an

“average house” model. The model uses historic program

accomplishments to create an “average house” with

a specified ft2 value for each measure. Assumptions

changed further by applying a factor to weight HVAC

type based on the regional building stock assessment.

Savings assumptions for HVAC measures use a custom

SEEM run created by the Regional Technical Forum. We

weighted measure uptake by past program experience.

Our residential staff reviewed assumptions about future

performance.

44

E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R R E S I D E N T I A L C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Every year, people buy thousands of products that use

energy, ranging from light bulbs to water heaters. The

Consumer Products program encourages people to

choose efficient options by providing incentives to buy

products that are more efficient than most commonly

found in the marketplace.

Measures include:

n Lightbulbs

n Web-enabled smart thermostats

n Clothes washers and dryers

n Heat pump water heaters

n Advanced smart power strips


People purchase products in many ways. We need to give

people multiple points of entry, allowing them to interact

with our programs in ways that work for them. We are

exploring in-store rebates where people receive an

instant discount at the register and online rebate portals

to pay them rebates after they buy.

Additionally, we are considering online stores, limited-

time offers, and traditional mail-in rebates. We plan to

pilot several options during the 2020-2021 program

period and build upon successful experiences for the

next program plan.

Consumer Products



As discussed in the 2017-2018 Conservation Plan, a

new set of lighting efficiency standards are effectively

phasing out our past retail effort. Our new effort, the

Consumer Products program, builds upon the success

of the past program as it transitions our focus from the

point of sale lighting rebates to appliance rebates. We

must leverage an easy to use web-based rebate platform

that minimizes implementation costs to be successful.

There are several options under exploration, including the

NEEA-facilitated regional program, partnerships with other

regional public utilities, or a standalone Tacoma Power

program. Once the new program is in place and viable,

we plan to expand product categories and add retailers.

Risks:

The greatest challenge facing the new Consumer Products

program is finding an easy to use, low cost, online

rebate platform. This platform is necessary for us to

implement the Consumer Products program. Additionally,

the utility cost test limits our rebates; therefore, they will

likely be small. It is unknown if the size of the rebates

will attract or detract customer interest. The Consumer

Products program is a pilot during the 2020-2021

planning period as we are uncertain whether the program

will be cost-effective in the long run.

Promotion Strategy:

The campaign will leverage direct consumer marketing

through various utility channels, web-based advertising,

and in-store point of purchase displays to gain people’s

attention. When possible, we intend to use point of sale

rebates to make participation as easy as possible.

Incentives:

Rebates for web-enabled thermostats, clothes washers,

and clothes dryers are planned at $50 each, while heat

pump water heaters are at $350 per water heater. We

will offer some rebates on lighting during the early part

of 2020, with incentives not to exceed $2 per bulb.

Incentives are estimates and may change as we develop

the program.

Basis of Analysis:

Web-enabled thermostats, clothes washers and dryers,

heat pump water heaters, and lighting were analyzed using

“average measures” assumptions. We informed average

measure assumptions by prior program uptake and the

Residential Building Stock Assessment. Additionally, we

analyzed several generic measures per kWh to simulate

unidentified new measures that we expect to add to our

program. We will solidify the offer details as we identify the

new measures.

46

New Construction and Custom Projects



500 MWhPlanned savings


Program Overview:

In the summer of 2018, CEP piloted an effort to offer

incentives based on modeled energy use for projects that

did not qualify for our standard program offers. Building

upon the lessons learned from this effort, we are rolling

out a formal New Construction and Custom Projects

program. The program targets new homes built above

energy code, comprehensive home retrofits, and projects

that address a unique deficiency in the home’s shell. All

homes must be electrically heated post-construction.

Measures include:

n Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

(HVAC) equipment

n Building shell repair or upgrade

n Appliances


Businesses work directly with CEP, through their

architecture firms, or a third-party energy rater. We

estimate energy savings, ensure projects meet our

cost-effective standards and conduct Measurement and

Verification (M&V) to ensure we realize energy savings

and customer investments.

E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R R E S I D E N T I A L C U S T O M E R S


Risks:

Washington state has one of the strictest energy codes in the

country, making it difficult for new construction projects to

acquire significant energy savings above code. Additionally,

New Construction and Custom Projects are at a greater

risk of having savings reduced by a BPA or state external

audit than other projects. As with all analyses of this nature,

analysis is subject to some interpretation.

Promotion Strategy:

We plan to leverage customer interest in new construction,

including ADU and affordable housing projects. CEP will

develop literature for interested customers that explains

program requirements and incentives. We will accomplish

most promotions by word of mouth and through outreach

to contractors and architects. Additionally, we plan to

leverage relationships with the permit departments (City of

Tacoma, Pierce County, Tacoma Power) to identify projects

in the early stages of construction when modifying

plans is easier.

Incentives:

We incentivize New Construction projects at $0.70 per

kWh, while we pay Custom Projects at $0.50 per kWh.

Basis of Analysis:

We analyzed our New Construction and Custom Projects

programs on a per kWh basis based on the reduction of

heating loads.

48

Quick Energy SaversE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R R E S I D E N T I A L C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Numerous low-cost products can be given directly to

people to help them start saving energy now. The

program leverages low product cost and enthusiasm

to build a good rapport with people, overcome product

skepticism, and provides energy savings benefits to

Tacoma Power.

Measures include:

n Light bulbs

n Showerheads

n Weather stripping and caulking

How People Participate:

We are active at community events and host pop-up

events within neighborhoods we serve. These events

provide an opportunity to educate people and distribute

quick energy savers. We partner with low-income

agencies and community advocates to reach low-income

and hard-to-reach customers when they apply for

assistance and interact with customers at the Energy

Programs counter in the TPU lobby. Finally, we are

exploring direct outreach efforts, such as direct mail

or web-based signup.



Similar to our retail program, the Quick Energy Solutions

program is transitioning away from lighting towards other

products, such as weather stripping. It is unclear how this

transition will affect the number and type of products we

can give people.

Risks:

There are currently no RTF deemed savings values for

weather-stripping or similar products. CEP will need to create

agreed-upon savings numbers internally to go forward with

this product line.

Promotion Strategy and Incentives:

Products will continue to be distributed to customers at

no charge at local community events, in the TPU lobby,

and through community partners.

Basis of Analysis:

Lighting and showerheads were analyzed using deemed

RTF values. We analyzed a generic weather-stripping

measure using a per kWh methodology to determine if

it would be a cost-effective product for people. We will

solidify details as we identify new measures and add them

to our offers.

5050


Tacoma Power is proud to be a regional leader in serving low-income and hard to reach customers. To help those most in need, incentives will be above those offered in our standard heating and weatherization program. Our targeted offers help low-income customers living in their own homes, renters in single family homes, renters in two, three, and four plexes, large multifamily complexes, and those living in manufactured homes.

ENERGY CONSERVATION for LOW-INCOME and

HARD-to-REACH CUSTOMERS

Planned Low-Income and Hard-to-reach savings (MWh)


Owner Occupied Low-Income

Agency Partnerships

1,450

900

660

52

Low-Income ProgramE N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R L O W - I N C O M E A N D H A R D T O R E A C H C U S T O M E R S

$3,138,5001

Planned Capital and O&M expenditures




Program Overview:

We offer one of the most comprehensive low-income

programs in the state. We help our low-income customers

by combining our standard rebate with a zero-interest

deferred loan. This combination allows people to reduce

bills now and pay for improvements through equity in

their home when they either sell, refinance, or when

occupancy changes.

Measures include:



n Windows

n Ductless

n Duct sealing


People must meet program income guidelines to be

eligible for the deferred conservation loan. People

who qualify contact trade allies who will provide bids

on weatherization and heating projects and identify

significant issues that could warrant custom analysis.

Our trade allies assist people through the application

process, assisting them with required project

documentation and income verification. After we

approve the project, the trade ally deducts the rebate

and loan from the customer invoice, resulting in no

out-of-pocket expense.

1 Includes funds required to make deferred loans. Economic analysis uses a cost of money calculations to determine the utility’s cost of loaning money over 20 years.



Cost-effective challenges from lower measures savings

and a lower avoided cost required either scaling back

the program to an insulation-only offer or modifying

the program’s incentive structure. In response to this

challenge, we created a deferred loan program, which

enables us to not only keep existing measures cost-

effective but add ductless heat pumps and double pane

windows into the mix, thus increasing participation

opportunities.

Risks:

We have seen a significant decline in low-income

weatherization projects 2016 – 2019. We attribute

this decline to the removal of ductless heat pumps and

double pane windows from our program, which was

necessary to keep the program cost-effective. We hope

adding these measures back into the program using a

deferred loan will increase participation. However, the

deferred loan is not without risk. At our estimated low-

income spend rate, the current fund will be exhausted

in 2022; policymakers will need to increase the loan

fund each biennium for the foreseeable future to maintain

solvency. Additionally, while loans have a historically low

default rate (less than 1%), we may see an increase in

defaults as deferred loans age.

Promotion Strategy:

We continue to seek opportunities to meet people as

they go about their daily activities by adding pop up

events at local Safeway stores with a TPU Pay Box,

and participating in events organized by non-profit

organizations that serve low-income customers with

other services. For example, community resource fairs,

food banks, and organizations offering free tax preparation

services for low-income residents, and we will seek

opportunities to partner with TPU Customer Solutions to

present holistic solutions to people who struggle to pay

their electric bill.

Incentives:

Our deferred loans and rebates should pay 100% of

the upfront project cost for people who qualify. Insulation

rebates cover about 50% of project cost (with the

remainder of the deferred loan), while our deferred loan

mostly covers ductless heat pumps and windows. All

measures bring a net benefit to people and our utility

by the time the measure reaches the end of its life.

Basis of Analysis:








SEEM run created by the Regional Technical Forum.

We modeled measure uptake by past program experience.


performance.

54


E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R L O W - I N C O M E A N D H A R D T O R E A C H C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

Improvements in rental housing efficiency benefits

renters through lower utility bills and benefits property

owners by improving the value of their property. Our

rental housing and apartment building program is

designed as an entry point to engage people in a variety

of projects across CEP programs.

Measures include:



n Windows


n Duct sealing

n Common area lighting

n Common area HVAC


Property owners work through trade allies and our

conservation staff. The CEP staff act as project managers,

connecting property owners to engineers, lighting

specialists, and building science experts who ensure

projects meet Tacoma Power’s cost-effective standards.



Incentives have been reduced to maintain cost-effective

standards and align with the streamlined owner-occupied

weatherization and HVAC program where possible.

Larger buildings with five or more units pay incentives

based on the number of square feet insulated or square

feet of windows upgraded.

Risks:

The efficiency industry has struggled since the 1970s

to help renters because property owners do not receive

the benefit of lower bills when they make energy-saving

improvements, and renters do not make energy

efficiency investments in buildings they do not own.

Currently, due to lack of affordable housing, tenants are

reluctant to ask property owners for improvements and

concerned that improvements will increase their rents.

Promotion Strategy:

CEP will promote this program through active engagement

with interested property owners. Once property owners

participate and have a positive experience, they are

more likely to continue engagement. Additionally, we

are working with the City of Tacoma to engage reticent

property owners through tougher codes and standards

that set minimum levels of building performance for

rental housing.

Incentives:

Incentives for buildings with less than five units mirror

our standard rebates, while incentives for buildings with

five units or more are calculated based on the building’s

square footage or square footage of replacement

windows. Incentives are different between low-rise and

high-rise buildings due to the differences between how

heat escapes small vs. large building.

Basis of Analysis:








SEEM run created by the Regional Technical Forum.

We modeled measure uptake by past program

experience. Our residential staff reviewed assumptions

about future performance.

56

Agency Partnerships

E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N F O R L O W - I N C O M E A N D H A R D T O R E A C H C U S T O M E R S





Program Overview:

We look to increase engagement with hard-to-reach

customers by collaborating with agencies that serve

them. The intent of the program is not to pay 100% of

the project cost, but to provide incentives to encourage

low-income agencies and community programs to

install energy-efficient products alongside the programs

they currently offer. This program allows us to provide

incentives for products that would usually fall outside our

program, such as manufactured home efficiency projects.

Measures include:



n Windows


n Duct sealing

n Manufactured homes

n Heat pump water heaters


How Partners Participate:

We plan to sign a memorandum of understanding with

our participating partners that outline participation

requirements, energy efficiency incentives, and

reporting requirements. Partners leverage our funds

as appropriate to increase the value they bring to the

people we serve.

Risks:

The program is new and untested. It is possible that

agencies will be unwilling to collaborate with us, or they

are unable to report completed projects in a manner

that meets our Energy Independence Act reporting

requirements. Additionally, we are unsure our proposed

funding levels will make enough of an impact to encourage

efficient projects.

Promotion Strategy:

We promote the program through one-on-one contact with

peers at low-income agencies and organizations that run

programs that meet the energy needs of people who are

hard to reach. Agencies are responsible for promoting their

programs once they get funding from our utility.

Basis of Analysis:








SEEM run created by the Regional Technical Forum. We

modeled measure uptake by past program experience.


performance. Our residential staff reviewed assumptions

about future performance.

5858


CEP collaborates with external organizations and alliances, such as the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and other internal power utility departments, such as Transmission and Distribution, to deliver energy efficiency outside our traditional conservation programs. Other organizations implement these “programs,” but we contribute funding or technical expertise and can claim savings they help create. External Energy Conservation represents our lowest-cost energy resources but provides less opportunity for us to work directly with the people we serve.

EXTERNAL ENERGY CONSERVATION

Planned External Efficiency Savings (MWh)

Voltage Optimization

NEEA

380

7,800

60

E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N T H R O U G H E X T E R N A L O R G A N I Z A T I O N S

Program Overview:

NEEA is a regional alliance of 16 direct funding Northwest

utilities and energy efficiency organizations working on

behalf of 13 million people. The Alliance serves our

customers through upstream market transformation

efforts using two strategies:

n NEEA helps to fill the energy efficiency pipeline

with new products, services, and best practices.

Through these efforts, NEEA facilitates

manufacturers’ delivery of new energy-efficient

products to northwest utilities and people they

serve. Past efforts have included better lighting,

ductless heat pumps, and improved practices

for business and industry.

n NEEA works to improve market practices that

accelerate and sustain the adoption of emerging

energy efficiency products, services, and practices.

By nurturing the market and encouraging people to

buy efficient products, NEEA gives people access to

existing efficient products. Past efforts include working

with retailers to encourage stocking practices that

make efficient televisions the default choice.





Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance


Both strategies leverage regional collaboration and

the pooling of regional resources and market risks. By

coordinating northwest utilities who collectively serve

13-million people, NEEA has much greater influence than

individual utilities working independently. Pooling resources

allow NEEA and its funders to spread risk and costs over

the region and a five-year planning cycle, which is key to

long term market transformation. We could not have the

same effect without its northwest partners and NEEA’s

coordination.


NEEA will enter the 6th planning cycle in 2020. The

new planning cycle aligns NEEA’s business activities

with industry trends and the Northwest Power and

Conservation Council’s 7th power plan. The new business

plan will cost us $50,000 per year less than the previous

business plan.

Risks:

The savings achieved through the NEEA collaboration

face significant year to year volatility depending on

NEEA initiatives and a dramatic decrease mid-business

cycle when baselines change due to an updated

Northwest Power and Conservation Council power plan.

Because of this volatility, CEP does not rely on NEEA

savings to meet regulatory targets.

Implementation Strategy:

CEP actively participates in NEEA’s governance structure,

including NEEA’s Board of Directors, the Regional Portfolio

Advisory Committee, the Residential, Commercial, and

Industrial Sector Advisory committees, and several ad-hoc

workgroups. Participation ensures alignment with our

goals, the best use of utility ratepayer funding, and

compliance with state regulation.

Tacoma Power 2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLAN

62

Program Overview:

CEP partners with Tacoma Power’s Transmission and

Distribution (T&D) and the BPA’s Energy Smart Utility

Efficiency program to acquire energy savings from

T&D project improvements. For this CEP Plan, T&D

projects additional work in the voltage optimization area

coordinated with planned substation improvements.

Voltage optimization saves energy by regulating T&D

voltage to end-users safely and most efficiently. Projects

include changing voltage regulators, phase rebalance,

and capacitors. T&D expects about three to four voltage

optimization projects during this Energy Conservation

and Program Plan period.

Risks:

VO projects are dependent on Tacoma Power’s

approved biennium capital funding and subject to

T&D substation priorities.

Implementation Strategy:

T&D prioritizes substation enhancements and provide

the BPA with substation date to confirm energy savings.





E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N T H R O U G H E X T E R N A L O R G A N I Z A T I O N S

Transmission and Distribution Voltage Optimization

Tacoma Power 2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLAN 63Tacoma Power 2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLAN

6464


In the early 2000s, as the renewable energy industry expanded, many of our residential and business customers wanted to demonstrate their commitment to these new energy resources. To meet this need, we developed several programs to serve this market. In the past five years, we have expanded these programs to include a range of options to engage customers in renewable energy, energy information, and electric transportation. These programs provide benefits to us and engage with people and our community partners in new and exciting ways that help us continue to earn our reputation as a trusted energy provider.

GREEN ENERGY PROGRAMS, ENERGY SERVICES, and

ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION

66

E N E R G Y C O N S E R V A T I O N T H R O U G H R E N E W A B L E E N E R G Y

Program Overview:

An increasing number of homeowners and businesses

are choosing to install solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays and

connect them with the electric grid. Customers with

rooftop solar are eligible for a net metering credit for

electricity generated and delivered to the grid. In addition

to net metering credit, customers with qualifying solar

systems have access to the Washington state renewable

energy production credit (when available) and federal

income tax credits. We assist these customers with their

applications and pay them incentives on behalf of the

state. The utility recoups incentive payments through a

reduction in state utility taxes.


Most people work directly with solar contractors to

install a grid interconnected net-metered solar

photovoltaic array. Net metered solar arrays must be

less than 100 kW and use the homes’ primary utility

meter to record the net use of utility electricity and their

renewable systems’ electricity. Systems larger than

100 kW cannot be net-metered but are interconnected

to the utility grid after Tacoma Power approved the

system utility and entered into a power purchase agreement.

People with Net Metering receive a bill credit for all

electricity generated and exported back to the grid,

paid at the utility’s retail rate for electricity.


Funds established by the Washington State Legislature in

2017 during a revision of the state’s Renewable Energy

System Incentive Program (RESIP) were exhausted in

early 2019. Customers with renewable energy systems

certified under the program will continue to receive annual

incentive payments for eight years or until the sum of the

payments reaches 50% of the value paid for the renewable

energy system. Customers with existing systems already

receiving incentives under the state’s Renewable Energy

Cost Recovery Incentive Program will continue to receive

incentive payments through June 30, 2020.

Risks:

Payments made under the Net Metering program will

remain in place until the utility exceeds four percent of

the 1996 peak load (41.7 MW). The current net-metered

load is just over 3 MW. Based on current adoption rates,

there is little risk that the load will exceed the payment cap.

Engagement Strategy:

CEP provides information about Solar Net Metering. We

offer educational workshops and resources on our website,

including WattPlan, a web-based solar estimator that

helps customers make informed decisions about

investing in solar.

$55,000Planned expenses

650Planned participants

$2,600,000Estimated state incentives

Solar Net Metering



Program Overview:

The cost of solar photovoltaics (PV) is at an all-time

low. Coupled with federal and past state incentives, it

has created significant interest in renewable energy

systems. For customers that lack the resources to

make a large upfront investment in a solar array or

have a property that is ill-suited for a solar installation,

participating in community-solar projects make their

involvement possible.

In 2016 we constructed a 292 kW Community Solar

project. People with interest in participating in the program

bought solar units or small portions of the project

that provide them with annual payments for the state

production incentive and the value of solar electricity

produced. Tacoma’s Community Solar program runs

through June of 2020.


We pay customers based on the number of solar units

they bought at the program launch. Because state

production incentives end in 2020, participants will

receive final payment for the state incentives for electrical

production in 2019-2020 and a lump sum payment for

the estimated value of solar for electricity generated

between the years 2021-2036.

Engagement Strategy:

Participants will continue to receive annual updates

until the program expires in 2020. We sold out of our

Community Solar project; therefore, we will not continue

to promote it.



$850,000Estimated state incentives

Community Solar

68


Program Overview:

Evergreen Options is a green power program that offers

interested people an opportunity to buy electricity produced

from new, non-hydroelectric renewable sources to offset

activities that impact their carbon footprint beyond their

electricity use. People’s contributions through this program

are used to buy Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) and

fund Tacoma Power’s grant program for local renewable

energy systems. Local non-profits, schools, and government

agencies within our service territory can apply for a grant of up

to $50,000 to build a locally sited renewable energy project.


Customers may enroll in the program either online or

by calling Tacoma Power. Customers have two options;

buy all or a portion of their monthly electricity use at

the cost of 1.2 cents per kilowatt-hour over normal

electricity charges or buy 250-kilowatt-hour blocks of

electricity for $3 per block. A minimum purchase of one

$3 block per month is required.


We will offer two annual grants up to $50,000 to support

the development of local renewable energy projects

in 2020-2021. The grants encourage local schools,

non-profits, and government agencies to submit proposals

to build renewable energy projects at their facility within

our service territory. If we receive more than two grant

submissions, active Evergreen Options participants will

vote for their favorite proposals. We will select winning

proposals from the two with the highest number of votes.

RECs generated by these projects help support the

Evergreen Options program.

Risks:

Ongoing enrollment is necessary to support the energy

grant program to prevent the grant program from

exceeding available funding. In that event, staff will consider

alternatives to the annual grant, including reducing the

number of available grants or eliminating the grants.

Promotion Strategy:

In 2020 and 2021, we will focus on increasing Evergreen

Options enrollment through social media posts and the

promotion of new grant-funded local renewable energy

projects. Communications will work to increase community

awareness by highlighting our virtually carbon-free

power portfolio and spotlighting participation as a means

to offset carbon release in participants’ lives apart from

their electricity use. We plan to retain existing program

participants by highlighting the local grant-funded

projects and the positive impact these projects have

on the community. Outreach to businesses will include

guiding participants and grant award winners on ways

to use the program as a marketing tool. We also plan to

feature renewable energy suppliers who provide RECs to

the program and highlight program benefits.

Evergreen Options


200,000Planned grants1,100

Planned participants



Program Overview:

Shade from trees reduces our growing air conditioning

load and mitigates the heat island effect often found in

urban areas. To promote using trees to reduce cooling

needs, we are collaborating with the City of Tacoma and

Puyallup Watershed Initiative to encourage residents

to plant deciduous trees on the south, southwest, and

southeast portions of their properties. Additionally,

Tacoma Power launched a Shade Tree pilot program in

2019, providing a $4,000 grant to buy and plant shade

trees that will benefit people in low-income neighborhoods.

The program piloted in the Hilltop neighborhood in 2019.

If successful, it may expand to other neighborhoods in

2020-2021.


Tacoma and Pierce County residents complete a tree

coupon application online or over the phone working

with the City of Tacoma, Department of Environmental

Services’ Office of Sustainability. Once their information

is verified, they receive a coupon in the mail that is

redeemable for $30 off each tree up to three trees at

participating local nurseries. People also receive care

and watering instructions and planting assistance as

needed. For the 2019 Hilltop shade tree, pilot participants

are eligible for one free shade tree and receive planting

assistance through the Tacoma Tree Foundation.


Our 2019 program delivery is being evaluated, with

changes being made to control program costs. Based

on lessons learned, the collaborating agencies agreed to

only receive tree coupons from the City’s Office of

Sustainability-Urban Forestry program, to limit the

number of trees redeemable per coupon from five to

three, and to cap the number of redeemable coupons.

Additional changes will focus on increasing participation

from customers within the utility’s service territory and

improving data collection with participating nurseries.

Risks:

The Shade Tree Coupon program is a long-term

investment in managing our growing cooling load. For

trees to survive and to us realize future energy savings,

we must place the trees in our program in optimal

locations and nurture them properly. Educating people

is an important part of this program.

Promotion Strategy:

The City of Tacoma Environmental Services Department

and Tacoma Power will promote the Shade Tree Coupon

program on their websites, through social media, and

utility bill inserts.

Shade Tree


4,600Trees planted2,100

Planned participants

70


Program Overview:

In 2019 the Washington State Legislature passed the

Clean Buildings Act (HB 1257), which established

building energy performance standards for commercial

buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. Building

owners may be eligible for state incentives for meeting

or exceeding the standards early, while building owners

who fail to meet standards by 2028 may face state

penalties.

The law is new, and many administrative rules are not

in place. However, we see a clear role for producing

educational material that helps people understand the

law, proactive outreach, and engagement with customers.

Additionally, we play a critical role in providing utility

consumption information that allows people to manage

their compliance and potentially qualify them for state

incentives. Early and active engagement is necessary

to continue earning our reputation as our customers’

trusted energy advisor.



Clean Buildings

2020 – 2021CONSERVATION PLAN

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2020 – 2021 CONSERVATION PLANresources are no longer in the conservation potential, resulting in a substantial reduction in our residential conservation potential. n Regional wholesale